Mason Rudolph was having a steady debut season through his first seven games. He wasn't a standout quarterback, but he was showing improvements and poise at the position.
Then came what I saw as his best start against the Rams, where although he only threw one touchdown, he made his best reads on the season. That followed with his undoubtedly worst game against the Browns.
Bumps were expected in his rookie season, but his performance had some red flag moments even when the Steelers' offensive line bought him time. Let's take a closer look:
Rudolph finished the game against the Browns completing 23 of his 44 passes for 221 yards and a touchdown, but also with four interceptions. The wheels came off for him for the first time in his NFL career and he doubled his season interception total go give him eight through eight games.
Three of those interceptions came when he targeted passes more than fifteen yards downfield, which was the same amount of passes Rudolph completed beyond fifteen yards Thursday night.
It wasn't the number of interceptions Rudolph threw that was alarming, but how he was throwing them and missing other options. When I wrote about the Steelers' offensive line issues yesterday, I mentioned how they were the absolute worst team at converting third and fourth downs with one yard to go.
But Rudolph shares the blame in this department as well. He's missed well-schemed opportunities drawn up by Randy Fichtner that even undrafted quarterbacks should make. Watch this shallow cross to JuJu Smith-Schuster and how he comes from behind the line to cross the field and be wide open for a first down.
Rudolph gets enough time and space to complete this pass, but it ends up at Smith-Schuster's feet and it's another blown opportunity for the offense:
Rudolph's accuracy isn't going to be consistent at this point of his career as he refines his mechanics and throwing motion. But he still has to find a way to at least reasonably hit his passing windows when his receivers get open.
Some instances may be about timing and not having a working chemistry with receivers like Tevin Jones, who was called up from the practice squad just before the game. Jones hits his route well, but there's a chance it wasn't supposed to be as deep and Rudolph's throw anticipated an earlier cut, but Rudolph still has to get the ball to Jones in this situation:
Once the fourth quarter came, Rudolph looked a bit punch drunk from all his mistakes. The Steelers were giving him time to throw and options to hit, but he wasn't seeing the field. Here's another example of a play that any quarterback has to make in a crucial fourth down.
The Steelers line up Johnny Holton behind James Washington to Rudolph's left while enduring a six-man blitz from the Browns. Because of the blitz, the Browns are left with only five defenders in coverage and the good chance that someone will be open.
Washington's deeper route clears out space for the drag by Holton, who is uncovered the entire play. But Rudolph never sees Holton and stares down Jaylen Samuels who is covered the whole way. If Rudolph simply rotates to the middle of the field, the drive most likely continues and the game could go a completely different path:
Good quarterbacks have to take advantage of what defenses neglect to cover. Rudolph has capitalized on those moments on occasion this season, so his focus this week will need to be sticking to his key reads to get more consistent results.
His final interception came when targeting Washington, but never seeing Joe Schobert dropping back to make an easy interception. Notice how Rudolph has a pocket to see the field and still tries to fit in a throw that would never make it to Washington. You can see the Browns rush four with everyone else dropping into coverage with little concern for Rudolph breaking the pocket.
Had Rudolph stepped to his right and run, he most likely could've gotten at least 5-10 yards on first down instead of throwing the interception that put the game out of reach:
The Steelers drafted Rudolph because they saw him with the potential to be a game winning quarterback. Everyone stumbles, so it's no damning performance from which he can't bounce back. Ben Roethlisberger's had plenty of those over the years.
But how Rudolph bounces back will be telling to his resilience. On top of testing his progressions, pocket presence and command of the playbook, this season is about gauging his potential to be a gamer.
The Steelers don't necessarily need him to thread the needle with 40-yard passes through double coverage, but they do need to see him make the kind of throws he missed on the easier short completions, as well as avoid some of the bad errors that led to his debacle against the Browns.
If Rudolph at least rebounds to that standard, it will be a good sign for his future.
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